


Autumnal Winds

by Eissel



Series: Whumptober 2019 [7]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 3rd Years Centric, Chapter 367 - 369 Spoilers!, Everything about the recent chapters just hurts, Feels, Gen, Hurt, Karasuno Family, No 14 - Tear-Stained, Slight bullying of Daichi b/c he makes awful comparisons, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 07:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21050609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eissel/pseuds/Eissel
Summary: Chapter 367-369 Spoilers!Daichi reels from the loss during the quarterfinals, and reflects upon how far they've come since a small redheaded boy who shone like the sun appeared in their clubroom.





	Autumnal Winds

_ We lost. _

That’s the thought that runs through Daichi’s head as he stands there on the court, frozen. 

His palms still sting from getting the ball up to Asahi, he _ knows _instinctively that time is still moving, but all his mind can see is the exact moment when the ball hit the ground after the rebound. 

The thud echoes horribly in his mind. 

23-25 in the last set. He stares up at the scoreboard, disbelievingly. Not a single match had gone into the 30s, not like Shiratorizawa, not like Aoba Josai. 3 _ normal matches. _

He collapses to the ground, and stares up at the ceiling. 3 whole years, gone in the blink of an eye. 

He finally understands the other 3rd years on their opponent teams. He feels victory slip through his fingers, lingering just long enough that he swears its taunting him. The lights are harsh, burning his eyes, but at this point he doesn’t care. He slowly gets up, and struggles to his feet. 

“It’s okay.” Suga. He looks up into grey eyes, and smiles back. 

“Yeah.” He lets Suga help him up, and he leans on the other 3rd year as they go to line up. 

The _ quarterfinals. _

Daichi realizes that they made it to the _ quarterfinals _before petering out. It hits him as he shakes the hand of his counterpart. It puts him in a daze as he, Suga, Asahi, and Kiyoko bow to the stadium. 

This is their last time stepping foot on the court. 

His breath catches in his throat, and Suga calmly smacks him on the back. 

“Breathe.” He orders. “We have to keep a good face on for the team.” All Daichi wants to do is fall apart, but he nods anyways.

As they make their way out of the stadium, he looks upon the faces of his team, and jogs up to them, ignoring the screaming pain in his legs. 

“Oi, Tsukishima, your leg’s doing alright?”

“Huh? Oh, it is.”

“If it wasn’t for your blocking...” He says honestly, “We would’ve never made it to nationals.” He remembers seeing the tall blond come into his own during the Shiratorizawa match, remembers the surly first year who’d wanted nothing to do with volleyball. He remembers him, and compares him to the Tsukishima that stands before him now.

They’re so different, it’s not even funny. 

“I want to get back quickly, so I can review the footage.” That honest statement pushes Daichi over the edge. 

“What you guys, seals?” He laughs, holding onto the rail as Tsukishima fixes him with a confused look. 

“I think he means in the sense of growing quickly.” Asahi butts in. Tsukishima raises an eyebrow, and swiftly makes his way down the stairs, not looking back. Daichi fixes Asahi with a wry semi-smirk as they make their way down the steps, one at a time, ignoring how loud their steps seem to echo off the walls.

As Daichi talks to the team and marvels at their growth, he ignores the creeping feeling that this will be his last ever speech like this to them. In light of it however, he packs as much emotion and sentiment into his words as he can.

He’s _ proud, _ so damn _ proud _of how far they’d gotten. 

When they get to the shop, the 3rd years stand on the balcony together. 

“At least no-one apologized when it was over.” Suga sighs, plastering himself over the rail. 

“It still sucked though.” Daichi kicks back against the wall. “I felt like… like we could’ve gone higher, further.” He holds his hand against the sky, splaying his fingers wide. “Our wings were just clipped too early.”

“Even so, they’ll do alright.” Kiyoko says, “They’re in good hands.” The sun slowly sinks in the sky, turning the sky beautiful pinks, oranges, and purples. 

“It’s gonna be weird, leaving.” Asahi leans up against the rail, yelping when Suga grabs his scarf and tugs him closer. The wind whips around them all, the cold slicing against uncovered skin. 

“We’re getting closer to autumn...” Kiyoko says at last. Her voice is choked. 

“Autumn already huh?” Daichi walks over to the railing to join them. “Fitting. Time for all the crows to come out during the harvest.”

“You make awful parallels Daichi.” Suga says after a minute. They don’t bring up his tears. 

“Yeah, he does.” Asahi’s smile wavers. 

“You guys… You all _ suck. _” Daichi envelops them into a hug, and they cry into each other’s arms, terror and sorrow being the dominant emotions. 

After they’ve cried themselves out, they step back from each other. 

The sun sinks below the horizon, and the wind chills them further. 

But they’re smiling still. 


End file.
